A pair of local athletes earned the Ohio Athletic Conference Clyde Lamb Award Monday night at The Point at Otterbein University.
Wilmington High School graduate Simon Heys and Washington Senior High School graduate Cassidy Lovett were the Wilmington College recipients of the prestigious honor.
Heys is a member of the Wilmington men’s cross country and track and field teams. Heys has had an incredible career and 2023-24 school year for the Quakers. In cross country, Heys won five races and went into the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships having not lost to a single Division III competitor all season. He was an All-America runner, finishing 33rd at nationals, and won the Great Lakes Region Championships, and the OAC Championships.
Heys was the first runner in program history to be named OAC Runner of the Year. He was also named the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Men’s Athlete of the Year and First Team All-OAC. He was named OAC Athlete of the Week twice and National Athlete of the Week once.
In track and field, Simon was named both the OAC Indoor and OAC Outdoor Distance Runner of the Year and has qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships in both the 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter runs. Academically, Simon finished with a 3.79 GPA as a double major in Sport Management and Communication Arts-Digital Media Production. He was named Academic All-OAC in the fall and a USTFCCCA Division III Men’s All-Academic Athlete. Heys also was named the OAC Scholar Athlete of the Month in November of 2023.
Lovett is a member of the Wilmington women’s basketball team. She was the team leader for the Quakers this season and was the first player in program history to be named the OAC Defensive Player of the Year. To earn this honor, she was second in the conference with 79 steals, which was third in program history for a single season. She was also named Second Team All-OAC.
Other accomplishments from the season included being sixth in the OAC with 340 points, 121 made field goals, and 65 offensive rebounds. She was fourth in the conference with 83 made free throws and 10th with 60 assists. She was second on the team with 136 total rebounds and third with 71 defensive rebounds.
She scored 10 or more points in 15 games, grabbed 10 or more rebounds in three games, had seven games with five or more steals, and recorded two double-doubles. Lovett was also named the OAC Athlete of the Week on Dec. 18, 2023. Academically, Lovett finished with a 3.36 GPA as an Education major. She was a two-time deans list member.
Clyde A. Lamb was a coach, department chairman, and athletics director at Ohio Northern University from 1929-1964. The award was named after him in 1985 and is presented annually to one male and one female from each OAC institution.
To be nominated, an athlete must have at least two years of participation in an OAC sponsored sport, be of senior status, maintain a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 and have sportsmanlike conduct in a manner that brings credit to the student-athlete and his or her institution.
